Safety and Security

This report documents current practices of transit systems to determine methods and procedures used for maintaining transit stops and associated infrastructure during and following such weather events. This synthesis also provides a state-of-the-practice report on transit systems' management of extreme weather events; associated planning; management responsibilities; efforts to respond; standards and specifications; associated legal claims; and communication with customers.

This report examines responses to infectious disease epidemics and identifies legal issues that may be confronted by transit agencies. It considers federal and state laws and available court decisions affecting transit agencies’ responses to infectious disease outbreaks, including potential cohesiveness among transit agencies’ procedures and federal and state guidance. The digest also examines the legal basis for the protocols that public transit agencies and other transportation providers such as airlines have planned or implemented to respond to epidemics and pandemics. It further builds upon the 2014 NCHRP Report 769: A Guide for Public Transportation Pandemic Planning and Response.

This report provides treatment strategies to prevent incidents and improve safety at platform/guideway and platform/vehicle interfaces. The research focused on rail transit systems with level or near level boarding where the vehicle floors are level or near level with the platform.

This report documents the state-of-the-practice to address fire and smoke incidents. Fires in underground passenger rail tunnels require implementation of different measures in order to provide safety for the passengers and ensure structural and system integrity of the facilities and operating infrastructure. The publication addresses planning, design, and operations to address fire and smoke incidents, and identifies current practices including lessons learned, challenges, and gaps in information.

This report documents current practices and training initiatives, including bus operator training and retraining programs that have been effective in reducing accidents and incidents at transit agencies. The study also focuses on other system approaches that have been implemented to address safety hazards. These approaches include various technology applications, infrastructure modifications, and programs and initiatives such as driver incentive programs and close call/near miss reporting.

This report identifies the requirements necessary for successful value creation through transportation infrastructure investment and capturing a portion of that value through specific value capture mechanisms. It includes six case studies that provide practical examples of successful value capture from public transportation investments.

This report explores the current technologies, research, and opportunities for use. It also provides examples of how surveillance systems are used to improve operations, safety, security, training, and customer satisfaction.

This report is a pre-publication, non-edited draft. It provides guidance to transit agencies and bus manufacturers as they integrate emerging technologies into current procurement practices and improve bus operator workstation design across the transit industry.

The research produced practical guidance documents and tools applicable to the procurement process and bus design, including a suggested procurement process and strategies for transit agencies to develop, train, and support a bus procurement team; training for the procurement team, including an ergonomics training module for bus operators; guidelines to update TCRP Report 25: Bus Operator Workstation Evaluation and Design Guidelines; and a digital model of a bus operator workstation that may be used by designers and transit agencies to develop specifications.

This report explores the current state of practice and identifies and responds to the specific challenges and issues associated with the security of small-and medium-sized transit agencies. It follows the five stages of protection activity (prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) by providing baseline options and identifying potential security countermeasures that could be deployed by both of these sizes of transit agencies.

This report presents a wide array of engineering treatments designed to help improve pedestrian safety for three types of public transit rail services: light rail, commuter rail, and streetcar.

The Guidebook addresses key pedestrian safety issues associated with public transit rail services; presents pedestrian crossing issues associated with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Americans with Disabilities Act; summarizes readily available decision flowcharts used to make decisions regarding pedestrian treatments at rail crossings; presents information for 34 pedestrian treatments used at rail crossings, grouped into eight appropriate categories; and includes four case studies that examine specific decisions with respect to pedestrian rail crossings. Click the link to obtain a hard copy of this report. https://www.mytrb.org/Store/Product.aspx?ID=7685

This report is supplemented by a final research report, TCRP Web-Only Document 63: Treatments Used at Pedestrian Crossings of Public Transit Rail Services. Click the link to view Web-only report. http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/172337.aspx

This report presents research on the definition of safety culture within public transportation, presents methods and tools for assessing safety culture, and provides strategies and guidelines that public transportation agencies may apply to initiate and build a program for improving safety culture.

This report addresses some of the health and safety issues common throughout the transit industry, and describes approaches that transit organizations in the United States and Canada have taken to address health problems faced by transit employees.

The report is supplemented by a presentation, Making the Case for Transit Workplace Health Protection and Promotion, and an Excel worksheet, Transit Operator Workplace Health Protection and Promotion Planning, Evaluation, and ROI Template, that may assist transit agencies with implementing and carrying out transit-specific programs to protect the health of bus operators and other employees. click the link to view. http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/171189.aspx

This digest synthesizes and assesses laws, regulations, and guidance from the transit and homeland security industries as a means to help transit agencies better understand their legal responsibilities with respect to emergency planning and operational issues. One of the goals of the report is to help transit systems remain in compliance with emergency planning and operations requirements and guidance.

This synthesis documents elevator and escalator maintenance activities, safety practices, and passenger communication efforts at five U.S. transit agencies. The five agencies where information was gathered are MARTA (Atlanta, Georgia), NYCTA (New York, New York), SEPTA (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), CTA (Chicago, Illinois), and BART (San Francisco, California). These five agencies together operate 1,418 elevators and escalators throughout 850 rail stations. Together, they are part of a U.S. Federal Transit Administration-sponsored consortium with the American Public Transportation Association, Amalgamated Transit Union, and the Learning Center, engaged in developing a Transit Elevator/Escalator Maintenance Training and Apprenticeship Program.

This synthesis addresses the practices and experiences of public transit agencies in applying both corrective actions and rewards to recognize, motivate, and reinforce a safety culture within their organizations.

This report identifies potential best practices for all of the elements of a comprehensive approach to safety-related rules compliance. The categories of best practices, which correspond to the elements of a safety-related rules compliance program, include screening and selecting employees, training and testing, communication, monitoring rules compliance, responding to noncompliance, and safety management. This report also outlines the features of a prototype safety reporting system for public transportation.

This report describes how to create a communication process to reach vulnerable populations regarding their transportation options in emergencies. The toolkit provides a guiding framework and tools for constructing a scalable, adaptable communication process built on a network of agencies from public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Together, the partners form interconnected communication channels with the ability to carry out the function of emergency communication not necessarily possible by working alone. A PowerPoint slide show, which summarizes the toolkit, is available online at TRB.org.

This digest highlights the legal requirements that are relevant to the transit procurement process of balancing the competing needs of open government and public security. The report explores federal and state requirements concerning record retention and disclosure, as well as practices transit agencies have adopted to meet their responsibilities in balancing these competing public policy interests.

This report explores how performance measurements are used to achieve organizational goals and enhance quality of service at public transport planning, funding, and operating agencies in Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the Peopleâ€™s Republic of China; in the city-state of Singapore; in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and in Taipei, Taiwan

This report explores preventive maintenance measures taken by a sampling of transit agencies to ensure buses are on time, protect taxpayer investments, and promote passenger satisfaction and public safety.

This report is a digest of the progress and status of TCRP Project J-7, Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Problems, for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency conducting the research.

This digest explores the diversity of demand-response transportation (DRT) services and examines definitions of performance data and performance measures. This report also highlights the typology of rural DRT systems and includes examples of performance data from more than 20 representative rural systems.

This report examines pedestrian and motorist behaviors contributing to light rail transit (LRT) safety and explores mitigating measures available designed to improve safety along LRT alignments. The report also includes suggestions to facilitate the compilation of accident data in a coordinated and homogeneous manner across LRT systems. Finally, the report provides a catalog of existing and innovative safety devices, safety treatments, and practices along LRT alignments. Appendices B through E of TCRP Report 137 were published as TCRP Web-Only Document 42.

Transit agencies face numerous challenges in providing passengers with a safe and efficient means of travel while respecting the freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment. In May 1998, the Transportation Research Board published Transit Cooperative Research Program Legal Research Digest (LRD) 10, Restrictions on Speech and Expressive Activities in Transit Terminals and Facilities ("LRD 10"), a survey of the relevant law and its development up to the time of publication. This digest supplements LRD No. 10, summarizing and analyzing the status of this important area of the law in light of court decisions and other developments that have arisen in subsequent years.

This synthesis explores transit-related counterterrorism and anti-crime security measures and practices; examines crime and security incident trends; and highlights other related topics, including major issues and obstacles to security and policing management. The report is an update to TCRP Synthesis of Transit Practice 21: Improving Transit Security, which did not address terrorism.

This report examines a business case for the shared use of non-Federal Railroad Administration-compliant public transit rail vehicles (e.g., light rail vehicles) with freight operations and highlights a business model for such shared-use operations. This report also explores potential advantages and disadvantages of shared-use operations and the issues and barriers that can arise in the course of implementation.

This report presents the mitigation methods tested and used by transit agencies to reduce collisions between light rail vehicles (LRVs) and motor vehicles where light rail transit (LRT) runs through or adjacent to highway intersections controlled by conventional traffic signals. A particular focus is placed on collisions occurring between LRVs and vehicles making left-hand turns at these intersections. This report offers success stories and specific actions to achieve positive results, as well as examples of unsuccessful actions. The issues addressed include a range of LRT operations and environments such as median-running, side-running, contra-flow, and mixed-use LRT alignments; urban and suburban setting; and a variety of U.S. geographic regions.

This digest is an overview of the mission that investigated emergency preparedness programs in the public transportation systems in several Asian cities. It is based on individual reports provided by the team members, and it reflects the observations of the team members, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented.

This publication examines basic privacy issues associated with the acquisition and storage of financial and trip data associated with the use of a transit smart card. The report explores who can access the data collected, what data may be accessed and under what conditions, and how the information can be used.

This report will assist public transportation agency senior staff, law enforcement, and security service providers in assessing the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a passenger security inspection program. The objective is to provide guidance that a public transportation agency may use when considering whether, where, when, and how to introduce a passenger security inspection program into its operations. This volume identifies the most promising types of screening technologies and methods currently in use or being tested, the operational considerations for the deployment of these technologies in land-based systems, the legal precedent that either applies or that should be contemplated in connection with passenger screening activities, and a passenger security inspection policy decision-making model.

This report provides guidelines for the safe design and operation of at-grade crossing of exclusive busways. The guidelines are based on a detailed literature review, interviews with selected transit agencies, and site visits to Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, and Richmond (British Columbia). The guidelines are intended to assist transit, traffic engineering, and highway design agencies in planning, designing, and operating various kinds of busways through roadway intersections.

This digest provides guidelines for the application of audible signals for pedestrian safety in light rail transit (LRT) environments. The guidelines include descriptions of audible signal systems and associated operating procedures, their integration of audible signal systems and associated operating procedures, their integration with other crossing measures, criteria for their use, and their effectivenss and limitation.

This digest discuss the investigated portable track geometry measurement systems, their applicability to transit operations, and developed performance guidelines and testing requirements for use by transit agencies in evaluating and selecting a portable track geometry system.

This digest provides guidelines for the application of guard/girder/restraining rails by transit systems to improve vehicle curving performance, reduce risk of flange climb derailment, and to control wheel/rail wear.

This digest reviews and analyzes various track transition designs among ballasted and nonballasted track forms and structures and offers guidance to improve track and operating performance. The research is based on similar work conducted for freight railroads, modified, as necessary, for the transit operating environment. The results should be of interest to engineers involved in the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of rail transit systems.

This reports suggests selected engineering treatments to improve safety for pedistrains crossing-high-volume, high-speed roadways at unsignalized intersections, in particular those served by public transportation; and recommends modifications to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, pedestrian traffic signal warrant. The guidelines for use in selecting pedestrian crossing treatments for unsignalized intersections and midblock locations is located as Appendix A in the report.

This report will assist U.S. ferry system operators in evaluating and selecting general security measures (GSMs) for their operaitons consistent with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides a consistent nationwide approach for Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity. This volume focus on the concerns that transportation agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed.

This synthesis documents and summarizes transit agencies' experiences with policies and regulations that permit buses to use shoulders on arterial roads or freeways to bypass congestion either as interim or long-term treatments. Both the transit and highway perspectives are explored. The purpose is to identify and obtain information and experience about jurisdictions that allow bus use of shoulders and about how jurisdictions have considered, but have not implemented, these treatments and the reasons why. This topic will be of interest to transit agency and highway organization staff responsible for bus use of shoulders.

This report is designed to assist transportation agencies in developing drills and exercises in alignment with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The objective of this volume is to provide guidelines for use by transportation exercise coordinators. Steps are described in the process of emergency exercise development, implementation, and evaluation.

This report will assist rural, small urban, and community-based passenger transportation agencies in creating hazards and security plans or evaluating and modifying existing plans, policies, and procedures consistent with the National Incident. Management System (NIMS) "NIMS provides a consistent nationwide approach for Federal State, territorial, tribal, and local government to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity." To excess the accompany appendices to this report and additional resources, click the link. http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/152464.aspx

This report provides information concerning the ability of public transportation systems or their agents, within the context of federal or state law, to conduct either random searches or targeted searches of passengers on public transportation vehicles or on public transportation property.

This report exaimes activities that may be taken by public transportation agencies working with their local communities to promote the early recognition of emergency events, expedite response to emergency events, establish multi-agency coordination, and ensure that public transportation resources are available to support the response to an emergency event.

With the current high level of security awareness in the transit environment and the considerable proportion of bomb threats that are hoaxes, law-enforcement and transit-security officials need decision-making tools to investigate threats before taking action. The use of technology is one option for safely investigating bomb threats. Some transit agencies deploy bomb-sniffing canine unites, but the dogs can only work a short period of time before they are fatigue. This report addresses the need to determine the usefulness of existing portable explosive detection devices (EDDs) in a transit environment . The technology is predicated on trace-vapor detection of explosive residues using mobility spectrometry.

This fifth volume of TCRP Report 86: Public Transportation Security, is part of a series pertaining to specific security problems. They focus on the concerns that transit agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11. The objective of Volume 5, Security-Related Customer Communications and Training for Public Transportation Providers is to provide improved tools for security-related customer communications and training. A CRP-CD-43, accompanies this volume, which containes the entire TCRP Report 86: volume 5 contents.

This report is designed to address transit agencies' needs for evaluating and upgrading the intrusion detection systems applicable to the spectrum of their facilities (including tunnels, bridges, buildings, power stations, transfer stations, rail yards, bus yards, and parking lots) and their transit vehicles (such as buses, trains, support vehicles, and special purpose vehicles). The Handbook provides guidance on assessing system needs; developing system designs; and estimating system costs, benefits, and risks.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, public transportation systems across the nation have assessed and upgraded their security functions and capabilities. As a result, the transportation industry has produced an abundance of security-related resources, such as training courses and materials, guides, manuals, reports, projects, programs, seminars and conferences. This digest list many of the resources recently made available to public transportation systems across the United States. Transportation providers can now easily acquire and learn from these resources.

Emergencies arising from terrorist threats highlight the need for transportation managers to minimize the vulnerability of passengers, employees, and physical assets through incident prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. This volume is a part of a series that focuses on the concerns that transit agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of Septemer 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. To reduce the chances that transportation vehicles and facilities will be targets or instruments of terrorists attacks, and to be prepared to respond to and recover from such possibilities, transportation agencies are simultaneously prepared to respond to natural disasters such as hurricans, floods, and wildfires, as well as human-caused events such as hazardous materials spills and other incidents.

This digest is an overview of the mission that investigated safety and security issues at all-bus systems. It is based on individual reports provided by the team members, and it reflects the views of the team members, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the date presented. The report includes transportation information on the cities and facilities visited, lessons learned, and discussions of policies and practices that could be applied in the United States.

This is the second volume of TCRP 86: Public Transportation Security, a series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes, each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. This volume will focus on the concern that transit agencies are addressing when developing programs in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed. This report will be of interest to federal, state, and local law enforcement K9 program operators. Trained dogs represent the best broad-spectrum, high sensitivity sensory systems. The use of canine (K9) teams to support patrol, narcotics, and explosives-detection activities is routine in major metropolitan areas. This information is based largely on extensive interviews with nine public transportation agencies that currently deploy K9s and four agencies that disbanded their K9 programs in the last 5 years.

A challenging problem that many light rail systems face is the "second train coming" phenomenon on double track crossings. A second train frequently activates the grade crossing equipment within seconds after the first train has activated the grade crossing circuits, thus creating a situation in which two trains pass through the grade crossing within seconds of each other which could be very confusing and potentially dangerous to motorists and pedestrains. This digest provides the results of two demonstrations of active sign warning systems that could increase awareness of and compliance with the conditions of the second train coming phenomenon.

This is the first volume of TCRP Report 86: Public Transportation Security, a series in which relevant information is assembled into single, concise volumes, each pertaining to a specific security problem and closely related issues. This volume offers information on a variety of approaches to improving the sharing of the threat information. Current practices, operational needs, technologies for threat information dissemination, and system functional requirements are discussed. Effective strategies for sharing analyzed and unanalyzed reports of suspicious activities and a path to an interoperable set of national, regional, and local threat-information forums are proposed.

This report presents a compilation of state CDL/CMV regulations, an overview summary of the federal motor carrier safety regulations, and information on the availability of state CMV and regular driver's manuals, among other information.

This digest presents findings about current methods for collecting, analyzing, and using data on transit-related crime to make decisions on personnel deployment and on allocation of security resources. The findings are based on telephone interviews and on information collected from 21 agencies. The final report, which describes the research approach and the analyses performed during the course of the project, is available as TCRP Web Document 18 on the Internet at http://www4.national-academies.org/trb/crp.nsf.

This report examine how part-time labor has affected the cost and performance of transit systems over the past 25 years and consider how part-time labor can be meaningfully incorporated into the workforce while avoiding potential negative impacts. This research reflects concern for transit system operating costs, safety, service, reliability, customer satisfaction, labor-management relations, and employee satisfaction.

This report describes the state of the practice concerning the use of on-board vehicle surveillance technologies designed to address both safety and security issues at public transportation agencies. Issues and shortcomings with surveillance are addresed, including financial, legal, maintenance, and procedural concerns.

This report provides documentation and presents the results of a study to improve the safety of light transit (LRT) in semi-exclusive rights-of-way where light rail vehicles (LRVs) operate at speeds greater than 35 mph through crossings with streets and pedestrians pathways. It also presents the results of field tests conducted to improve the safety of high speed LRT systems through grade crossing design. This report will be useful to LRT system designers, LRT operations and maintenance personnel, transit operations planners, traffic engineers, light rail safety officials, transit managers, and transit law enforcement officials.

This report provides guidance to transit agecny managers on whether to purchase a driving simulator and, if so, what kind. Also, this document provides guidance on how to use simulation effectively to improve bus operator training and safety. The guideline are designed to be used by transit-operations management, human resource management, training instructors, operations and safety personnel.

The role that operator fatigue plays in mass transit safety has become one of the central issues that U.S. bus and rail transit agencies must address. Fatigue is increasing cited as a contributing factor in bus and rail transit accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board lists human fatigue as an area where significant improvement is needed in order to increase transportation safety. In addition to reducing accidents, mitigating fatigue can also reduce the cost of transit operations. Costs due to lost productivity, employee absenteeism, employee turnover rate, reduced morale, and increased wear and tear on equipment are affected by employee fatigue.

A new tool is available for assessing fuel-related hazards on transit buses. It is built on quantitative analysis (summarized in this digest) that shows where the key risks for fuel-related hazards in compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefield natural gas (LNG) are expected. The Alternative-Fuel Transit Bus Hazard Assessment Model (the model) is designed as an Excel spreedsheet tool that can be tailored to the characteristics of a particular fleet and facility after reading the "One-Page User's Guide." Download the model and its accompanying final report/user's guide from the TCRP web site at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/trb/crp.nsf/All+Projects/TCRP+C-11. The model and the final report are also available on CD-ROM as CRP-CD-4 through the American Public Transportation Association's TCRP Dissemination web site at http://www.apta.com/tcrp.

This toolkit identifies an array of management principles and techniques, for use by small urban and rural public transportation providers, to assist in managing their transportation services and resources effectively. The toolkit has two parts: a guidebook and a self-assessment tool. The guidebook introduces the idea of customer-driven transit service attributes and includes general management philosophies. Also included in the guidebook are exemplary practices and "how to" instructions for some topics. The guidebook also includes four chapters on the "cross-cutting" topics, including operations management, risk management, vehicle maintenance, and procurement. The self-assessment tool on disk, that accompanies this report, is designed to give the user a baseline or current picture of the status of the transit system.

This synthesis will be of interest to transit agency general managers, transit police, security professionals, safety departments, and transit agency personnel in operations, maintenance, procurement, and administration, as well as to local, state, and federal law enforcement and emergency preparedness agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It provides a useful perspective on mass transit preparedness, offering information on the current practices of selected transit agencies to prevent and respond to terrorism and acts of extreme violence. This synthesis contrasts transit perspectives to those of general service police through a review of the relevant literature.

This synthesis will be of interest to transit agency general managers, police and security, operations, training, and human resources staffs, and to local police officials. It offers information on a variety of approaches to improving transit security. The nature and extent of transit crime, effective strategies to combat problem situations, and case studies of specific control practices deemed successful by transit agency professionals (with no distinctions drawn between bus and rail modes) are discussed. It reports on the various practices, making specific recommendations where appropriate but without the detailed directions usually found in handbooks or design manuals. Nonetheless, these documents can serve similar purposes, for each is a compendium of the best knowledge available on those measures found to be successful in resolving specific problems. The extent to which these reports are useful will be tempered by the users' knowledge and experience in the particular problem areas.

This digest was developed to compile information on transit bus and rail vehicle window vandalism and current and emerging window glazing technologies with potential applicability to the transit industry; and develop guidelines to assist transit agencies in the preparation of procurement specifications related to transit bus and rail vehicle passenger windows.